Step 16

And as always, thanks to our silicon experts at Chipworks for helping identify the key ICs at play! Head over totheir teardown pagefor an in-depth analysis of the iPhone 7 control hardware.

Step 17

Raising theroofloudspeaker out of the phone, we find some nice spring contacts and some mesh with ingress-protection!

Sharing design similarities with the speakers in the6 Plusand6S Plus, the speaker in the 7 Plus also bears a familiar antenna appendage.

Step 18

Tiny ribbon cables attach the Lightning connector assembly to the microphones, which are firmly adhered to the speaker grilles.

As predicted, the speaker grilles have ingress protection to keep the internals nice and dry.

And in case you haven't noticed, this Lightning connector assembly is huge! Like previous generations, it is moderately adhered and readily removed from the rear case.

This cable assembly also features the most substantial gasketing we've seen on a Lightning connector. Whilelast year's models used foam adhesiveto keep out water and dust, this one features a full-on rubber gasket, capable of holding back a 50 meter column of water.

Step 19

Water resistance has been touted as a big new feature in the iPhone 7 Plus—but what actually makes it water resistant? The evidence is everywhere:

Figures 1 and 2: a plastic SIM eject plug with a rubber gasket.

Figure 3: a rubber gasket on the SIM tray.

Rubber gaskets and plugs aren't new technology, but they are effective at keeping liquids and dust out of your phone. But there's a cost—when you replace a component you'll need to make sure you get the gasket in place and that it creates a good seal, which tends to be an extra, finicky step.

Step 20

Pausing our rear case excavation, we take a moment to examine the display assembly and its respective bits.

From the front face, it looks identical to the 1920-by-1080 displays we've popped off the iPhones 6 and 6s, but there are some notable changes: This guy supports a wider P3 color gamut than its older siblings, and is 25% brighter.

We also notice a water damage indicator hanging out on the left edge of the display EMI shield. This gadget may be waterresistant, but it looks like Apple won't be on the hook when you take your phone for a swim.

Step 21

After we free a few standard Phillips screws, the earpiece speaker practically falls out from under the front-facing camera.

This new earpiece speaker does double duty—for the first time, it also serves as a loudspeaker, giving the iPhone stereo sound for those times when you need to rock out and youmightnot have any place to plug in your headphones.

The front-facing camera cable assembly is a little more of a handful. Normally when we're served something this tangled up, it comes with meatballs.

All told, the upper components number:

Front-facing camera

Microphone

Stereo-enabling speaker

Proximity sensor and ambient light sensor

Step 22

More tri-point screws secure the home button and LCD shield plate.

But luckily, there's no adhesive on the LCD shield plate—and the cables are nicely managed.

There's not much to see here, so we quickly remove the shield plate and head for home, i.e. the home button.

Step 23

Last to leave the display assembly: the home button.

It's more like the hometouch sensorreally. No buttons about it.

Analog DevicesAD7149Capacitance Sensor Controller

For those of you waiting with bated breath, it appears that the new solid state home button is removable. It won't be a simple procedure, with tiny tri-points and light adhesive on the cable—but there is no longer a delicate gasket to replace. Overall, it is a step in the right direction.

A replaceable home button is great news for consumers. The mechanical home button has been a point of failure on past iPhones. While our data shows that the reliability of the home button is better in the 6 and 6s compared to the 5 and 5s, we’ve still had close to 100,000 people use ouriPhone 6 home buttonrepair procedure.

Additionally, the move to a non-mechanical button should improve overall reliability and reduce the need for replacement. Not to mention, it looks great under an X-ray.

Step 24

We're able to pull out the ring/silent switch, complete with gasket, and the rest of the button cable.

However, the volume and power buttons are nestled snugly in the case, defying conventional removal.